


please fall in love with me

by reyisvalid



Series: fall in love with me [2]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Cute Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Nico di Angelo and Will Solace are Cute, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace Fluff, Nico is a Dork, Oblivious Nico di Angelo, Soft Boyfriends Nico di Angelo and Will Solace
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:21:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27586027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reyisvalid/pseuds/reyisvalid
Summary: Will Solace has a crush on Nico di Angelo and it's becoming a problemBased off a headcanon that Nico sometimes shadowtravels in his sleep.Title is from a dodie song~~~~~~~~~Basically Will's perspective of 'would you be so kind as to fall in love with me?'
Relationships: Nico di Angelo & Will Solace, Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Series: fall in love with me [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2016491
Comments: 45
Kudos: 292





	1. it might seem strange

Something was off with Nico and Will knew it. He was carrying himself weird and he had that strange look on his face. Will frowned as he watched Nico walk past the field from the infirmary window.

“What’s wrong?” Will turned to find Kayla sitting next to him.

“Huh, nothing.” He mumbled.

Kayla rolled her eyes. “You’re frowning.”

He sighed. “Something’s off with Nico. I can’t put my finger on it.”

She hummed, unwrapping her banana. “What do you mean?” she asked with her mouth full.

“Close your mouth first.” He sighed again, “he hasn’t come to the infirmary.”

“Awww, do you miss him?” 

Will crossed his arms, “Of course not. But, as his doctor, I’m...uhh concerned.”

“Totally.”

“Uh huh.”

Kayla stood up, tossing her banana peel in the trash. “You can admit you have a crush on him you know.”

Will sputtered. “I don’t! I just care about his well-being.” He stood up, “you know, as his doctor.”

Kayla rolled her eyes, “Come on, it’s so obvious. You write poetry about the dude.”

“What?! How did you find my notebook!”

“I didn’t, but you just admitted you do.” She tossed her hair. “He likes you too, you know that. Why do you think he’s always hanging around here.”

“Firstly, you’re an absolute menace. Secondly, he just likes helping out!”

“Right, cause the Ghost Prince finds so much joy from cutting bandages.” She stepped closer. “Look, Will. He likes you and you like him; why don’t you just ask him out?”

Will groaned, “I don’t even know if he’s into guys.”

Kayla snickered, “Oh honey, he’s gay.”

“What? How do you know?”

“I have my ways,” she winked as she left.

“Wait! Kayla, how? Kayla!” he called as the door fell shut behind her.

___________

The rest of the day was Nico-less and uneventful. He spent most of it in the infirmary, healing and catching up on paperwork. Nico wasn’t there at dinner either and Will was starting to get worried again. He scanned through the mess, but the Hades table was still empty. He sighed poking through his food.

“What? Is your boyfriend still not here?” Austin asked as he sat with his food.

“No, he’s sti-” Will looked up. “He’s not my boyfriend!”

Austin laughed, “Suuure.”

“He’s not!”

“But, he could be.” Austin hummed.

Will sighed as Kayla joined them. “That’s not going to happen.”

“Not with that attitude,” she chimed, setting down her food.

Will slumped, drinking his soda. 

“Hey genius, why don’t you go _ask_ him what's wrong?”

“I can’t jus-”

“Just let him know you care about him. That’s not a bad place to start,” she said, handing him a chip.

“You’re right. I’ll go after the campfire, I guess,” he mumbled, taking the chip.

___________

Apparently Will didn’t have to wait until the campfire to see Nico again, because he was right across from him during the sing-a-long.

Nico looked exhausted, dark circles under his eyes and a crease between his brows. Will chewed the inside of his cheek, something was definitely bothering him. And being stupidly stubborn, Will knew that Nico wouldn’t tell him what was wrong. He frowned, glaring at Nico over the flames. Stupid adorable italian boys being so cute and completely lacking self-preservation.

_________

The chatter eventually died down and everyone began to part. Will was hoping to catch Nico then and talk on their way back to the Hades Cabin, but Nico had bolted straight to his Cabin. Now, Will knew that something was _definitely_ wrong.

He finished helping put everything away and told Kayla to hold down the Apollo Cabin for him. Will ruffled his hair, hoping there wasn’t marshmallow on his face and jogged to the Hades Cabin. 

Nico couldn’t just hide something from his doctor, this was important and Nico was clearly fatigued from something. Will furrowed his brow, “NICO DI ANGELO,” he yelled knocking on the door. Sometimes you just had to do things the hard way.

After some nudging, damn they should really oil these door hinges, Will finally pushed open the door. And the room was empty?

“Nico? Where are-” 

“Owww,” came a distinct wail from the corner of the room. Will looked over to find a heap of black across the cabin, groaning.

“Oh my stars, are you alright?” Will ran over and knelt beside him.

“Yeah,” Nico groaned as he sat up. 

“I’m so, so, sorry,” Will gushed. He scanned over Nico, pressing his fingers to Nico’s head. Luckily, it looked like he didn’t hit his head. He titled Nico’s head up, checking for other injuries.

“Well, I don’t think you hit your head.” Will said. “I uh.. didn’t come here to attack you, I just uh.. I… didn’t see you today.” Will paused, swallowing. “You aren’t trying to avoid me, right?” He laughed nervously.

Nico nodded, giving him a vacant stare back. Will blinked, maybe Nico did hit his head.

Will cleared his throat, “Oh, so are you saying you aren’t trying to avoid me?” He repeated, slightly pulling away from Nico.

“Ahh, no?”

“Really? I haven’t seen you all day, and you closed the door and are- are you mad at me?” 

“What? No! I uh- I was just busy.” Nico stammered.

Will couldn’t help but frown again.“You look really tired Nico,” he said as he brushed his thumb along the shadows underneath Nico’s eyes. 

Nico looked away and Will instantly dropped his hand. Fuck, he messed it up.

“I uh.. I have to go, but if there’s something wrong. You can tell me you know. You can trust me, Nico.” Will said and he meant it. 

Nico nodded and Will took that as a sign to go. He didn’t want to pester Nico, but he couldn’t ignore his instincts either.

He stood up, “Good night, Death Boy,” and he closed the door behind him.

Confronting Nico did little to ease his mind, but at least Will got to see him today. It was definitely strange how his day felt incomplete without seeing Nico. He huffed as he stepped into the moonlight. Everyone was right, he definitely had a crush on Nico di Angelo


	2. you need some time?

Will spent most of that night tossing and turning in his bed. He usually went to bed early and woke up early, but a combination of his half-sister being sick and his admittedly undeniable feelings for a certain boy kept him up. He probably crashed around two am and was out cold since.

It was now 9:30 and his cabin was mostly empty. He definitely missed breakfast. He groaned, rolling over in his bed. He smashed his face into his blue pillow, trying to block out the blinding light from the window.  
Will blinked, his sheets didn’t smell like his laundry detergent anymore despite washing them yesterday. They didn’t smell bad either. Instead, they smelled like roses and something musky, like ash. He frowned, shutting his eyes again, he was definitely losing it.

“Will! WILL!” someone yelled.

“What?” He called back, sitting up. His head was still pounding.

“Um… you’re needed. Clarisse broke her arm, again.”

Will creeped his eyes open. “Again?”

Austin shrugged. “You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah give me a minute,” Will nodded back.

___________

After setting Clarisse’s arm in place and contemplating looking for Nico, Will sat down for lunch. If Nico needed him, he knew where Will was; there was no point in threatening him for company. He sighed reaching for his soggy sandwich.

“What’s wrong lover boy?” Kayla chirped, the door swinging behind her.

Will sighed, “Don’t you have paperwork to do?”

“It’s my lunch break, now move over. I want to hear what happened!”

Will scooted his chair, so Kayla could sit on the desk. “Nothing happened.”

Kayla frowned, “Well, why was he avoiding you?”  
“He said that he wasn’t. Maybe- maybe I’m overreacting. I don’t want to scare him off.”

Kayla peeled her orange, handing him a slice. “Well, if it’s something he’ll come to you,” she chewed thoughtfully.

Will rolled his eyes, “Do you really think Nico- Nico di Angelo- will admit if somethings wrong?” 

Kayla snorted, “Fair point. But, still give the boy some space.”

“You think I’m overbearing?” Will’s eyes widened.

“No- god, no. Will, calm down.” Kayla reached for his hand, “I just think that sometimes it takes people time to admit things. Maybe- maybe he’s not ready to share something yet.”

Will paused, “Yeah. Okay, I promise I won’t hunt him down today.”

“Good, but go check on him at the end of the day. So, that y’know- he knows you're there for him.” 

“I can’t believe that you're actually giving me good advice.”

Kayla snorted, “Better me, than Austin.” 

“Well thank you.” he smiled. “I’ll try not to hurt him this time.” He stood up to throw away his trash.

“This time?” Kayla tugged on her hair, “What happened last time?”  
“Will?” And he was gone. She shrugged, popping another orange slice in her mouth. She should start a counseling service, make some extra cash. 

___________

Will spent the rest of the day checking up on his little sister and hanging around the infirmary. He didn’t trust his ability to leave Nico alone. He groaned, his hands scrunched into his curls. What if Nico knew Will liked him and was uncomfortable? What if Nico was trying to friend-zone him? Gods, what if he was-

“OW, what was that for?” Will rubbed his temple where Kayla just flicked him.

“I know what you’re doing,” she rolled her eyes. “You’re thinking about the damn boy again.”

Will stayed silent, avoiding her eyes.

She sighed. “Come on, it’s dinnertime, lover boy” she said as she pulled him up. 

“Okay, okay. I can walk,” Will huffed, smiling as he followed her out to the mess hall.

They slipped into the Apollo Table, where Austin and the rest of their siblings sat.  
“What took you guys so long,” Austin asked.

“Well- Will was busy pining and I had some paperwork.” Kayla said, mouth full of mashed potatoes.

“Firstly, close your mouth. Secondly, I was not pining!” Will said indignantly as he helped his half-brother cut his food.

Austin and Kayla exchanged looks before laughing. “Dude, you’re so whipped,” Austin said.

“Yeah, yeah whatever.” Will was more focused across the hall, at the Hades table. Nico sat alone, slumped over his meal, as he moved his food around. Right, Nico didn’t like mashed potatoes.  
He looked much worse today, the circles underneath his eyes darker and fatigue/weariness eminanting from him, like an aura. Will frowned.

Kayla followed his eyesight, and poked him in the sides. “Go check on him,” she said softly. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

Will nodded. Something definitely wasn’t right and Nico clearly knew what it was. Because, when their eyes met he jolted up and practically bolted out of the hall.

He sighed, after dinner it was.  
___________

Will swung open the door to the Hades Cabin, face-to-face with the sight of Nico pushing his ugly coffin bed with his surprisingly well toned arms. Will blinked.  
“Umm… Nico? Is everything alright?” 

“Yep. Why?” Nico said, continuing his effort.

“Aaaa, do you- do you need help?” Will asked, scratching his head.

Nico scowled, “No.”

Will rolled his eyes, of course he didn’t. He slid next to Nico, and gripped the bed frame as he put in the last bit of effort to finally move the dang thing.  
And honestly moving the bed over by two feet didn’t do much for the goth-y aesthetic of the cabin. “So why are you rearranging?” Will asked, shifting his feet.

“I just needed a change,” Nico muttered. His eyes were focused out the window.

Will frowned, trying to shake off this weird feeling. “I just came in to check on you, again. I know it’s annoying, but you looked really tired and I dunno something feels off?” He knew he was rambling, but he just had to get it all out before he chickened out. He took a deep breath,“If somethings wrong, tell someone. It doesn’t have to be me-”

“Solace. I’m fine,” Nico cut him off. He raised his hand, oddly shaking it towards the Cabin door.  
Right, he probably wanted him gone.

“I know, I know. I just um- guess I’m being paranoid again,” Will swallowed and pointed vaguely at the door.  
________

When he finally crawled into bed later, he curled against his pillow. The strange scent of ash and roses was becoming familiar and Will sighed into it. Something was wrong. Something was wrong and he couldn’t fix it.

Will had always liked being the solution, his mother said it was the people pleaser in him and Kayla said it was because he was a pushover. But, honestly he just liked being needed. 

After he got to camp and was awful at archery and every other form of training, his self-worth took a huge blow. He remembered crying in the strawberry fields, wondering why he had to suck at everything.  
Well, it turned out that there was one thing he didn’t suck at and was actually really, really good at. After that, he was thrust into a world of responsibility as the head of the infirmary and then there were two major battles- battles where he lost so much. And he hated himself for being helpless. For having to console crying siblings and burning pyres. For having to stand there while everyone else mourned, with ash stinging his eyes and smoke engulfing his lungs, knowing that he failed.

Will rolled over in his bed, blinking back watery eyes. He took a deep breath.  
Tomorrow he wouldn’t bother Nico, instead he’d talk to Percy and the rest of the Seven. It was meddling, but honestly Will didn’t get a damn. He couldn’t lose anyone else- not while he could’ve done something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi, it's been a while. i've not being doing the best, so sorry! but, yea i hope you like this and updates will probably still be random lol. feedback is appreciated, this is definitely not my best work! <3


	3. you see, i'm trying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kayla stared back at him, her eyes watery and wide. Will swallowed, this was bad- bad news. “Infirmary,” she breathed.

Will woke up in a cold flush, something felt wrong- his healing abilities were going haywire. He groaned sitting up on his bed.

“WILL! Will! Gods, Will- are you up?” Kayla yelled, banging on the wooden door.

Will looked around, he was alone in the cabin and hell- he had overslept. The clock read 9:40 and he sighed. “Yes- hold-”

“Will, it’s Nico.”

Will’s heart jumped to his throat. He flung himself out of bed and to the door, banging his knee on a nightstand on his way. “Where?” He wheezed, hopping on a foot. “Where is he?”

Kayla stared back at him, her eyes watery and wide. Will swallowed, this was bad- bad news. “Infirmary,” she breathed.

___________

When Will saw Nico on the bed, he felt like someone sucker-punched all the air out of him. He looked ghostly-pale and almost- delicate, it was strange for the Ghost Prince to look so human. 

Will swallowed, stretching on his gloves. “How long has it been?”

“About 20 minutes since Piper found him.”

“Found him?”

“He was passed out on his cabin floor,” Kayla said quietly.

Will frowned, of course he was. He sat down next to Nico and placed his glowing hands to Nico’s wrist. He let his eyes flutter shut and tried to focus on the source. The infirmary faded around him, the echoing heart monitors and footsteps disappeared and Will focused on the rush in Nico’s veins and his heartbeat. It was faint and unsteady, nothing like Will expected. This  _ wasn’t _ Nico passing out from working too hard or not eating enough.

Will pulled away, “Fuck,” he whisphered, blinking away tears. “Go, go get me an IV and set up a heart monitor for him.” He pulled himself to his feet, “Kayla go get the UV lamps- I need everyone to focus.” Will breathed, “he’s fading.”

___________

Will spent most of the day sitting on that stupid green swirly chair by Nico’s bed. There wasn’t much he could do, but check Nico’s heart monitor and take more readings from various tests. The blood test they took in the afternoon came back clean, so they still had no idea what was wrong. He felt so helpless and lost as he watched Nico struggle to breathe through his oxygen mask. 

It was strange to see him so still and impassive. Will sucked in air, shifting on his seat and fiddling with his pen.

Kayla rapped on the door, waving from the tiny window. Will nodded, letting her in. They had moved Nico to a seperate room earlier that day, after they discovered he would need a ventilation system.

“Hey, it’s lunch.” She gave him a small smile and handed him his brown bag.

Will shook his head, glancing back to Nico. “I’m not really hungry.”

She sighed, closing the door behind her. “Will.”

“I’m really not, I uh… had a big breakfast.”

“You didn’t have breakfast,” she reminded him.

She wheeled a chair from the corner of the room over to the bed. “We can eat here, if you want.”

Will nodded, sitting back in his chair. They sat in silence for a while, eating their sandwiches.

“He’s going to be okay, y’know,” she said.

Will sighed, “I just feel helpless.”

“Will, this isn’t your fault at all.” Of course, she knew he was hell-bent on blaming himself.

“If I hadn’t overslept, maybe I could’ve gotten here sooner and-”

Kayla shook her head, “You’re doing your best.”

“I could do better,” he whispered, his eyes watery.

Kayla reached over, wrapping her hand around his arm. “Oh, Will.” She gently ran her fingers through his hair. “Everything is going to be fine. Nico’s breathing has been getting steadier and he’s going to be back to his  _ adorable _ self, and I’m going to be back to hearing you pine over him, okay?”

“Okay.” he nodded, wiping his eyes.

“C’mere,” she said, smiling. She breathed in, pulling him closer for a hug. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

___________

Everything was not okay. After being coerced into taking micro-naps, when Will woke up again at 6 AM, Nico was still as pale and still. Will winced looking at the uneven lines on the heart-monitor. He was running out of options.

“How’s he doing?” Austin asked, pushing through the door.

“Not very good.”

“I have his ambrosia dose,”he placed the syringe tray on the table next to Nico’s bed.

“I’ll go wash up,” Will said rubbing his face, 

Austin patted him on his shoulder, “I’ll wait for you.”

When Will got back into his scrubs and washed his face, Austin was prepped with his gloves on. They rarely used ambrosia syringes, but Nico was in no position to nibble on a square which was the alternative options.

Will nodded getting his notepad ready. He tried not to think about how Nico preferred the unicorn draught.

Austin cleansed the area on Nico’s forearm before gently administering the shot. “It’ll take a while, but hopefully we can get him off the oxygen tank today,” Austin said.

Will nodded, scribbling down the dosage and time of the shot into his notepad.

“Look Will, why don’t you go back to the Cabin?”

Will sighed, “Did Kayla put you up to this?”

“No! I just want to make sure you're not being hard on yourself,” Austin said guiltily, pulling off his latex gloves.“I’ll call you if something changes, okay?”

Will violently shook his head, filing away the notes in the small drawer. Maybe he should do some case readings about Nico, this could be a recurring thing.

“Will.”

“I’m not leaving, okay!” 

“I’ll tell her I tried,” Austin muttered, closing the door after him.

___________

The ambrosia shot was working, it was now late afternoon. Nico’s heartbeat was stronger now and Will saw him twitch his fingers earlier. They were debating taking him off the oxygen, but he probably needed to stabilize more before they did that. 

Will sat quietly reading beside Nico, occasionally glancing up at him- it felt like Will needed to watch Nico take every breath to remind himself that Nico was still here, that he wasn’t gone yet. 

He was a few pages deeper into Nico’s file, but most of what he found was scarce. The past day was a frenzy of panic and chaos and Will didn't even have time to think. 

He frowned, the last time Nico was translucent and exhausted was after carrying the Athena Parthenon. Will didn’t even consider the fact that Nico could be using his underworld powers- he had been at camp for the past week. Unless, Nico wasn’t telling him something. Will looked back at Nico- he was definitely hiding something.

Will wanted to scream of course Nico would be lying about being okay. He grit his teeth, the idiot always had to go be heroic all the time. 

Kayla popped her head back-in, “Will, Piper’s here.”

“Okay, she can come see him.”

Piper stepped in, walking straight to him. Will had always been a little intimidated by Piper; she was head-strong and confident and everything he lacked.“Hey,” she muttered, pulling in him for a hug.

“Hi, he’s doing better,” Will tried to smile. He shook his head, “I’ll let you guys be for a while.”

Piper nodded, “How are you, though?”

Will took a shaky breath, “We still don’t know what’s wrong, I uh.. have a few theories though.”

“You didn’t answer my question.” Her kaleidoscope eyes narrowed.

“I uh… I’m okay. Just worried.” 

Piper nodded, “Do you need me for anything?”

“No, no maybe you could give him some company?” Will said picking up his notepad. He quickly left the room and headed to find Kayla. Maybe this new lead could help.

___________

It was late when Percy and Annabeth came into check on Nico. They came in quickly, mostly murmured to themselves and sat with him for a while. On her way out, Annabeth told Will to not worry too much. He had just nodded.

He and Kayla had gone to see Chiron at the Big House to do some more research. They talked more with Austin. It was 11:30 when Will decided Nico needed another ambrosia shot. His hands were too shaky to do it himself, so he watched as Kayla did it.

It was 12:45 now and Will was pretending to be asleep to keep Kayla off his back. She meant well, she always did, but Will’s sole focus was on Nico. The ambrosia shot would be taking in by now and hopefully they would see results

Will anxiously rubbed his hands together, waiting for Nico to just twitch- do anything. He groaned as Nico continued to lay perfectly still.

And then he moved. Holy fuck- Nico was moving. He shifted and kicked his legs before falling still again. But, Will could have screamed in joy and he did.

“KAYLA! Kayla- oh for fucks sake, someone get in here!”

Austin came running through, the door swinging behind him. “What?!”

“Nico just moved, Nico moved- he was kicking around!” Will knew he looked crazy, but he didn't care; he threw his arms around his brother. 

“That’s great, that’s good. We’ll take him of oxygen, alright!” Austin said, holding him.

Will swallowed heavily, turning back to Nico. “You aren’t leaving me yet, death boy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi, thanks to everyone wanting to read more of this. i almost gave up on it, but the people-pleaser in me couldn't do it. i wrote this whole chapter in a day lol, but i hope you like it. :)
> 
> p.s- thanks to mayjone for making me want to write more of this! :)
> 
> edit: you guys are so wonderful, but don't worry! i write bc it makes me happy and i'm definitely ready to continue working on this series. i have some exciting things and ahh i'm just blown away by your kindness <3


	4. can your heart-rate rise a little?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He liked that idiot. A lot. Will swallowed, trying not to think of the millions of things that could be wrong and what Nico was so desperately trying to hide from him. He had spent enough hours worrying and Kayla was right- he needed to rest.

Since Nico had moved, Will had refused to go back to sleep. There was a possibility that Nico could wake up at any time and Will _had_ to be there when he did.

Admittedly it wasn’t easy, he was on his fourth cup of coffee and he couldn’t stop shaking. Kayla had long given up on getting him to rest and decided to stay up with him; occasionally giving him passive-aggressive looks as she read her book on the couch across from him.

Will clicked his pen, writing down the breathing rate he had just taken in Nico’s file. He frowned, he had an idea but he needed Kayla to leave. He coughed, clearing his throat.

“Hey, Kayla. Can you… uh get me another cup of coffee?”

She looked up from where it was sprawled on the couch. “You haven’t even finished the one from earlier.”

“Yeah, but it’s cold.” He trained his eyes to the tiled floor.

Kayla sighed, “Get it yourself. I’m busy.”

“I’m doing paperwork. Please?”

“Fine.” She rolled her eyes, getting up. As she closed the door, she caught the look in Will’s eyes. Clearly, he wanted to be alone with Nico and she got that- but it was annoying how Will could never say what he meant.

Kayla clicked the door behind her, might as well take the time to get away from the room a little bit, she decided.

Will sighed as Kayla left. It was now or never. He placed his hands on Nico’s arm, closing his eyes shut as he hummed softly.

It was a strength hymn that he had learned ages ago. It was very _rarely_ used and _rarely_ worked, but Will had nothing to lose here.

He frowned, trying to focus on where his skin met Nico’s and pushed all his energy there. The thing about strength hymns was that the energy had to come from somewhere and in this case- it would be Will. Clearly, something Kayla would refuse to let happen.

Will’s felt his face warm and a warm glow on his eyelids. He smiled softly- it felt strangely foreign.

He quickly lost track of time in his healing, but after a seemingly few minutes Will felt their connection tether break away.

Will took a deep breath, squeezing his eyes shut- there was a hollow sense of exhaustion clinging to him. His hands were sore and his cheeks were strangely wet. Will finally peeled his eyes open, the infirmary light suddenly blinding, and cautiously stood on his numb legs. 

Nico’s eyes were still closed, but he looked a lot better. His skin was less translucent and his cheeks even had a bit of color to them. Will sighed in relief, quickly checking to make sure the door to the room was still closed.

He stretched, blinking away spots in his eyes; he definitely needed some ambrosia to play this off when Kayla got back. Will opened a jar by the shelves and shoved a small cube into his mouth- his mother’s chocolate chip cookies greeted him in familiar warmth. 

And then he heard something rustle.

Will ran back to Nico’s bed, his arms tightly gripping the bed frame as he realized how weak he was, and leaned closer to Nico. Nico’s dark lashes fluttered, before his eyes fell open.

“Hi?” he croaked.

Will swallowed thickly. He was alive. He was alive. He was alive. Then, Will frowned. Exhaustion and emotion he had put away for two days came up like a raging wave and Nico was the unlucky bastard on the beach.

“Hi?! Are you FUCKING kidding me right now, Nico?” He yelled.

  
  


Nico winced. “I- I can explain.”

“Really, I hope you have a _fucking_ good answer for why you are shadowtraveling Nicolas di Angelo!”

“Actually it’s just Nico,” he smiled a little and that made Will angrier. He was sick of Nico pushing his health away like it wasn’t important- like _he_ was important. Like it was all a joke

“I, I will call you whatever I fucking please, di Angelo!”

“Will- I’m sorry, but-” Nico tried. His dark eyes looked back at Will and Will could see how sorry he was. Nico never said anything he didn’t mean.

“Do- do you have any idea how worried I was?” He hated how broken his voice sounded. Will blinked away the tears that were forming in his eyes.

“I-” 

“No. Listen.” He took a deep breath, sinking onto his knees beside Nico’s bed. “Do _you_ have any idea what it was like to find you passed out? Do you know what it’s like to sit by your bed for two whole days not knowing if you were _ever_ going to wake up?” Will was crying now, he couldn’t help it. He gulped helplessly and tried to wipe his face.

“I- I didn’t know that it had been that long,” Nico said softly and then he reached his hand towards Will’s. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Will blinked, staring at their intertwined hands. Hours ago, Will would have gone to tartarus and back just to have Nico move a finger. 

Will tried to smile, but it was probably a grimace. He nodded, trying to ignore his massive headache. “I didn’t mean to yell at you, I was just so terrified. I thought- I thought-”

“I’m okay.” Nico said, offering him a wry smile.

Will shook his head. “I thought you were going to die, Nico. It’s not okay.” _It’s not okay_ , Will repeated to himself. He delicately pulled his hand away from Nico’s, _it’s not okay._

A heavy moment of silence dragged on, before Will could fully comprehend everything. There were people, to call things to do, vitals to administer- he methodically handed Nico a glass of water after removing its cover. 

He had been waiting to give that to Nico for over six hours. Putting things in perspective was scary. He sat back on his swirly green chair.

Will quietly watched Nico take things in, his wide eyes darting around the room and at himself. He had to look away as Nico saw his IV tube and the heart monitor and the oxygen mask they had taken away earlier.

Will paused, letting Nico take a sip before interrogating him. “Why were you shadow traveling?”

Nico’s eyes widened and he took a deep breath. “I just- I needed to do uh… run some errands for my father.”

One thing most people didn’t know about Nico di Angelo was that he was a terrible liar. The shaky hands and darting eyes were a dead give-away. “You’re a bullshit liar, Nico.”

“ _Nico_ , why were you shadow traveling?” Will asked again, narrowing his eyes. 

“I told you-”

Will stared at Nico again- he was tired, he was sad, he was confused. He couldn’t do this on a single square of ambrosia. “You better have a good fucking reason for almost killing yourself and not telling me.” 

Nico stared impassively at his feet and Will sucked in his teeth. Well, then later it would be. He picked up his clipboard, he’d get Kayla to take his next shift. As stubborn as he is, he knew that he was on the verge of passing out.

“Kayla’s on her way to watch over you. Try to get some rest,” he said, closing the door behind him.

He barely made it four steps before he fell to his knees again. He groaned, pushing himself to the wall and trying to blink away the dancing spots in his eyes. Will took another deep breath before he tried to get up again with no avail.

“Need help?”

Hades, he had been caught. He looked up guilty into Kayla’s furious green eyes.

“Hey-”

“You absolute fucking hypocrite,” she growled. “You just gave Nico a whole spiel and- and- look at you!” she gasped.

“Kayl-”

“No.” She grabbed an arm around his waist, hoisting him up. “William Andrew Solace, you do not get to do this.” She pressed him to her side,“You do not-”

Kayla paused, her eyes widening. She flipped him over, pushing him against the walls and gently pressing her hands against his throat. “You _fucker_ , you're on ambrosia.”

Will helplessly tried to twist away, his eyes suddenly watery. “Just a square,” he breathed.

Kayla locked eyes with him, fear and anger swirling in her eyes. Will looked away, guilt gnawing at his chest. 

“You- you- bastard. Son of a gun, what were you thinking?” Kayla was crying now, tears flowing down her chin and eyes red.

Will met her eyes again, “I’m so sorry, Kayla. I’m so fucking sorry,” he breathed. He pulled himself onto his wobbly feet and wrapped his arms around his sister. Kayla shook as she cried and eventually he broke too.

They were like two cumulus clouds holding too much water and eventually breaking apart, just like- like at Lee’s funeral. When they had made that ridiculous promise never to let each other go; he had almost broken that promise today.

“I’m not leaving,” he whispered into her hair. She pulled away, looking at him.

“Good,” she said. She laughed softly, “It was a stupid promise to make, huh.”

“No. It was a good one.” He cracked a smile.

She tossed her arm around him. “Let’s get you to a cot, first.”

___________

Will was a fairly light sleeper, so he could only get about four hours in before the chaos of the day had taken over the infirmary. There were campers with broken arms, poison arrows and in dire need of stitches. 

He was banned from healing for at least a few days thanks to Kayla, but it was the least he could do after freaking her out. So, he resigned to his bed as he stretched and cut bandages.

Nico was apparently sleeping again, which was good, but it also made Will a bit nervous. Kayla appointed herself as his nurse and Will trusted that Nico was in good hands. 

He frowned, trying to think as he peeled an apple for Nico’s lunch. He still didn’t know what Nico was hiding and with Nico it could be anything from another prophecy to a new chew toy for Mrs. O’Leary.

“Hey, I’m about to go and check on him,” Kayla pepped.

“He’s awake?”

“Yes, but-”

“I need to rest,” he muttered defeatedly.

She smirked, “I’ll take him his lunch.”

Will gestured toward the dish he threw together. “Wait! Ask him what happened.”

“He’s not going to anyone, if he refuses to talk to you.”

“At least try, okay?”

“Okay.”

It didn’t work, Kayla came back in half-an-hour with zero information.

“Should I try Austin?”

Kayla rolled her eyes, “Right, cause they’re so close.”

“Well, I’m running out of options here!”

“Go back to bed, first. It’s quiet in the afternoons and this might be your best shot at a good nap, since you refuse to go to the Cabin.” Kayla patted his pillow.

“I’m not a dog,” Will said indignantly.

Kayla raised her eyebrows, “Come on, boy. Nap time!” 

Will rolled his eyes, but settled into his bed nonetheless. He sighed as his head hit the pillow, he was more tired than he realized.

____________

When Will woke up again, it was nearly sunset again. Dinner had come and gone, but Austin had saved him and Nico a meal each. He sighed, grabbing a glass of water and wandering around the main room. He still felt exhausted to his bones, but as his mother said- he was too stubborn for his own good.

It had been a long time since he had deliberately taken an evening shift and it was strange how much calmer everything was. Less chaotic as the camp activities winded down and excluding burns from the campfire; evening activities at camp were much less dangerous.

“Hey, I’m running to the Cabin. Anything you need?” Kayla asked, stopping by his cot.

“Uh… no. I think I’m going to check on Nico though.” 

Kayla sighed, “Okay, he’s asleep right now, but here are the keys to his room.” She tossed them to him. “Don’t stay too long.”

“I love you!” He called after here.

“You and me both, love” she said sarcastically. 

Will bit back a smile, it had been half-a-day since he last saw Nico. He grabbed the keys and practically glided to Nico’s new room. It was other one of the only two private-ish rooms they had in the infirmary and it was rarely used. Most injuries were never serious enough and campers preferred the main room anyway.

He pushed open the door, smiling at the sight of a sleeping Nico- much more appreciated version of an unconscious Nico.

He took his place on his chair, planning to spend these few minutes cooing over Nico. Nico turned towards him, his mouth wide open and his face creased by the pillow. Will grinned devilishly, he should’ve gotten a camera with him. A little mental image of Nico crossing his arms and rolling his eyes popped up in Will’s head and he shook it away.

He liked that idiot. A lot. Will swallowed, trying not to think of the millions of things that could be wrong and what Nico was so desperately trying to hide from him. He had spent enough hours worrying and Kayla was right- he needed to rest.

The warmth of the room quietly settled over him and Will felt his eyes close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah here it is! sorry it's been another three weeks lol, but i finished another fanfic i was working on. i also made a tumblr (https://reyisvalid.tumblr.com/) so yea... check me out on there for cover-art and writing updates :)
> 
> p.s- go to chapter 1 to see the collage i made for this!
> 
> ~thanks for reading~  
> rey <3


	5. think i know why

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will was gently shaken awake by a giddily smiling Kayla. 
> 
> “Whaat?” he mumbled, eyes barely open.
> 
> Kayla bit her lip, grinning wider. “Look down,” she whispered.
> 
> He frowned, what- oh. Oh! Nico di Angelo was in his lap. Like sprawled out on top of him, with his messy curls tucked into Will’s elbow and his feet dangling off Will’s thighs. He jerked up, accidentally rolling Nico’s neck to the side.

Will was gently shaken awake by a giddily smiling Kayla. 

“Whaat?” he mumbled, eyes barely open.

Kayla bit her lip, grinning wider. “Look down,” she whispered.

He frowned, what- oh.  _ Oh!  _ Nico di Angelo was  _ in _ his lap. Like sprawled out on top of him, with his messy curls tucked into Will’s elbow and his feet dangling off Will’s thighs. He jerked up, accidentally rolling Nico’s neck to the side.

“Shh!” she said. “Don’t wake him up.”

Will felt himself freeze; he whipped his head towards her. “Kayla, this isn’t funny.”

Kayla widened her eyes, “It wasn’t me, I swear.” She moved closer to him, “I saw- I saw him _ shadow travel _ here.”

“What?” Will looked down at Nico- still fast asleep. That was impossible, it had to be. 

“He was in his bed when I checked in through the window.” Kayla’s brow furrowed, “And then when I was prepping some syringes, I turned around and boom- he was in your lap.”

“Are you sure?”

“Why would I- of course I’m sure!” Kayla said, indignantly. 

“He’s sleep-shadowtraveling? Is that even a thing?” 

“Clearly, it is.”

They both fell silent as Nico twitched in his sleep. He scrunched his nose and tucked his head back into Will’s arm. Will bit down a smile.

“He’s not as intimidating when he’s asleep, y’know,” Kayla said, resting her chin on the arm of Will’s chair.

Will raised his eyebrows, “He’s never intimidating- he’s five foot two.”

“The dude can resurrect the dead, Will.”

“Still-”

Nico shifted again, turning his head away from Will.    
  


“He’s probably going to wake up soon,” Kayla whisphered, standing up. “Well, I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone,” she winked. 

He blushed, “Wait! What am I supposed to do?” Will knew Nico well-enough to know that he would bolt as soon as _he_ _knew_ that _Will_ _knew_. And confrontation was _neither_ of their strong suits.

Kayla cackled evilly as she wedged the door open with her hip. “Let me know how it goes,” she winked.

“At least lock the infirmary doors!” Will called.

“Oh- you don’t think he’s going to run, do you?”

“I-I don’t know?!”

She frowned, “Okay.” She cocked her head to the side, “Well, it’s just you guys for the night, but call me if you need me ‘kay?” The door closed behind her.

Will nodded, “It’s just you and me, death-boy.”

He looked back at the boy in his lap- Kayla was right, Nico did look softer asleep. His ever-present scowl disappeared into the occasional smirk and the crease between his eyebrows faded away; he looked like the fifteen year old boy he was… er well… physically supposed to be.

Will smiled as Nico nudged his head closer to Will’s hand; he could definitely get used to this. 

Nico butted his head into Will’s arm again, Will frowned.  _ Did… he want Will to..?  _

Will hesitantly threaded his fingers into Nico’s soft curls, holding his breath. He fully expected Nico to jump up with a sword to his throat- but Nico just smiled. Like  _ fully _ smiled, dimples and all, and Will swore his heart stopped for a second.

He grinned, gently tangling his fingers deeper into Nico’s hair. Who knew that the Ghost Prince liked head scratches?

Will smiled, in a lot of ways Nico reminded him of a cat. And that was pretty much confirmed when Nico let out the smallest little  _ mew _ .

It was official: Will Solace was dead from cuteness overload and Nico di Angelo was secretly a catboy.

Will couldn’t help but coo over him as Nico nudged again in his sleep. He knew Nico was bound to wake up soon and honestly he didn’t really have a plan, but clearly they would need to talk and Nico wasn’t very good at talking. 

Will sighed, wishing that this would just go over well and then  _ he _ woke up.

Nico’s eyes flew open and there was a deep panic and fear in his eyes that made Will’s heart hurt a little.  _ Why was Nico always on-edge? _

“You’ve been sleep shadow-traveling?” Will said/asked. Admittedly, it probably wasn’t the first thing he should’ve said, but the conversation was doomed from the start.

Nico’s eyes narrowed. “Yes. Can I get up now?”

Will chewed the inside of his cheek. Sometimes you just had to do things the hard way. He wrapped his arms around Nico’s waist, gently holding him down, “Not so fast. I need to get more answers out of you.”

“This feels dehumanizing,” Nico moaned, staring at his socks.

“Last I checked,  _ you’re _ the one who shadow-traveled here. You may as well extend your stay for a few more minutes.”

Nico rolled his eyes, but didn’t say anything, as he quietly flexed his feet.

Will cleared his throat, mentally going over his patient checklist.“Okay, so how long has this been happening?”

“Three days.”

So he was  _ right _ , something was up with Nico. He should’ve trusted his instincts- he arghh- he could’ve easily prevented this!  _ Next question  _ he reminded himself.

“And where have you shadow traveled to?”

Nico choked on air, desperately avoiding Will’s face. Was Nico  _ embarrassed?  _ And the larger question:  _ Why?  _

As the head of the infirmary and a pseudo-doctor to a horde of slightly magical teenagers, Will was practically immune to any weirdness; so Nico could say anything and Will would’ve probably heard it before.

“Well?” he frowned.

With his eyes still to the ground, Nico just shook his head violently. His mop of hair flew around him like a halo. Will paused, thinking back to when they had first found Nico after he passed out. His skin transparent and pale; his dark hair being the only color of him. He couldn’t see Nico like that again.

Will swallowed. “I need to know, Nico. Please.” 

Nico took a deep breath, swinging his legs slightly. “It’s always the same place,” he mumbled. “The Apollo cabin.” 

Will blinked, mouth agape. That-  _ that  _ was not what he was expecting at all. He felt his arms loosen around Nico. The gentle thud of Nico’s socks hitting the laminated floors brought him back.

“Nico, wait!” he yelled. 

Oh no, he didn’t! Nico di Angelo, didn’t get to drop a fucking bombshell on him and then  _ run.  _ Will frowned, chasing after him as Nico threw open the door to his room and darted through.

Will had the upper-hand of practically growing up in the infirmary; he knew exactly where everything was, but Nico was definitely more agile despite spending the last two days in bed.

He panted, jumping over a hospital bed as Nico nearly made it to the infirmary doors. Will prayed that Kayla remembered to lock the doors.

“NICO!” he called, nearing tripping over a step-stool. Damn it, that boy was much faster than he looked- and he looked pretty darn fast.

Will dodged his way through the beds and curtains, relieved to find that Kayla had in fact locked the doors.

“Did-did you lock this door?” Nico huffed.

“I figured you’d run,” Will said, hands on his knees. Nico wasn’t supposed to be running, at all. Just a few hours ago he could barely remain conscious. Will frowned. 

“Can I just say I’m impressed?” Nico said, as his eyes darted.

Will resisted the urge to roll his eyes; fighting with Nico wouldn’t help anyone- he needed to get Nico to care about himself. 

“I can help you, Nico. I need a bit of time and I need you to help me okay?” Will slouched into the floor, resting his back against the door. Nico would have to get through him to make it out of here.

Nico stared back at him, his usually dark eyes appearing a lighter shade of brown. He scowled,“Okay,” he finally said. 

Will felt his mouth twitch, so Nico did need someone.  _ Apollo Cabin.  _ Maybe Nico needed  _ him.  _

____________

After a lot of coaxing, Will got Nico to take sedatives before he went back to bed; so far it seemed like the only logical way to stop him from sleep-shadowtraveling. 

It was progress at least, now that Will knew what exactly was happening. At least he hoped it was everything, with Nico you just couldn’t tell if he was hiding something more.

He chewed his lip before grabbing a drachma. He needed Kayla, but she would definitely be pissed and he wasn’t sure how much to tell her. Will shook his head, she would have good advice, but she’d also tease him mercilessly. Will half-smiled at that: siblings.

He sprayed some water from a spray-bottle they kept on hand and tossed the drachma in.

“Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering and show me Kayla Knowles. Camp Half-Blood.”

Kayla appeared, snoring away in her bunk. She had her arm hanging off the side and a steady stream of drool on her pillow. Will snorted.

“Kayla! KAYLA!” 

“Huh- Whaa” Kayla blinked. She narrowed her eyes, “Will.”

“Hi.”

“Is something wrong?” she sat up, yawning,

“No! No,” Will scratched, his head. “I uh… talked to Nico.”

Kayla glowered, “Is that what you’re calling me for?!”

“Shh- you’ll wake up the others!” Will frantically called.

“Well? What did he say?” She sat back. “And this better be good,  _ William _ .”

Will rocked back and forth, “Soo, he knows he’s been sleep-shadowtraveling.” 

“How long?”

“Uh… I think he said three days?”

“You were right.” She leaned forward. “Wait- why didn’t he just say so?”

“Cause well, actually I don’t really know.” He wrinkled his nose. “He said he’s been traveling to the Apollo Cabin.”

Kayla blinked and then she broke out into a whole smile. “Will! He’s been traveling to you!” 

“What? No!” Will said. “Nico just said the Apollo Cabin- that could mean anything?” 

He couldn’t lie to himself, the thought had crossed his mind, but Nico coming to him? The chances were slim; Will tried not to think about his sheets smelling like ashes and roses.  _ Did Nico smell like that?  _

Will scrunched his face, he couldn’t really remember what Nico smelled like. Then again, he didn’t really go around sniffing people.

“Hello! Gaea to Will?” Kayla called.

“Huh?”

“I said: Why can’t you just ask him?”

“Ask him?! No way!” Will stared at his feet, “Besides we have bigger things to worry about, like figuring out how to stop his sleep-shadowtraveling?”

Kayla sighed, “What about now- how is he?”

“On sedatives.”

“Great. Okay. Good.” She yawned again, “I’m going to bed and so should you, and we’ll talk about this tomorrow.”

Will nodded. “G’nght. Love you.”

“Hmm. I would love you more if I could get eight hours of sleep,” she grumbled, swiping a hands through the Iris Message.

Will sighed, he was too exhausted to untangle all of this Nico stuff. He turned off the lights and passed by Nico’s room. 

He was quietly asleep, tucked into his bed. Will worriedly smiled, he still didn’t have a way to help Nico. He ran a hand through his hair- tomorrow. Tomorrow, he and Kayla would fix this mess.

Will nodded, heading back to his cot. Everything was going to be fine.

________________

Everything was not fine. Not at all. It was the next day, mid-afternoonish and Will was knee deep in research. He and Kayla had spoken with Chiron and borrowed some old books on shadow travel, but they had gotten nowhere.

Will frowned, scribbling down some extra notes. Kayla was away again, temporarily taking his duties as head-counselor of the Apollo Cabin, so he figured it would be nice to have something to work on as he waited.

He was still in Nico’s room, he had sort of refused to leave Nico alone. If Nico was shadow traveling to him, well then Will had to be as close to him as possible. He paused his random scribbling, knowing full well that this wasn’t going to help, and took a deep breath.

His eyes darted towards Nico who was still in his bed, poking around the green smoothie Will had made him. The one thing Will knew for sure, was that Nico needed all the energy he could get. So, that meant a lot of sludgey-grassy smoothies, so Nico better get used to that.

Two raps at the door and it swung open. Kayla was back. She made her way to his desk that he set up.

“Hey,” he whispered.

“Everything’s good at the Cabin,” she said. “How’s Nico?”

Will looked back at his bed, and turned to Kayla. “Okay. He isn’t really drinking the smoothie though.”

Kayla rolled her eyes, “I wouldn’t drink that either.”

“It’s good for you! He can’t just run on Happy Meals-”

“The smoothie isn’t really important, Will,” she interrupted. “How’s the research?”

“Going nowhere,” he sighed.

Kayla chewed her lip, thinking. She snapped her fingers, “I have an idea. But, you have to hear it out, all of it.”

“Okay?”

She shook her head. “Come outside,” she said, dragging him out of Nico’s room. 

This better be good, Will thought. He glanced at Nico, who was still fiddling around with his smoothie. He probably wouldn’t even notice that Will was going to be gone for a few minutes.

  
  


Kayla shut the door behind him, “Okay.” She rubbed her hands together, “You need to sleep with Nico.”

“What?!” Will felt his face go red, “Kayla-”

She rolled her eyes, “If you’d let me finish. I meant that you should probably spend the night with him.”

“I- I can’t do that!” 

“Why not?” 

“Well cause, Chiron. Camp rules?” Will raised his eyebrows, “Besides, what am I supposed to tell Nico?”

“You’re just as stubborn as him y’know.” She gritted her teeth, “You think that a little embarrassment is insurmountable to potentially saving his life?”

Will blinked, taken aback. He scowled, “Kayla, nothing is-”

“No, you listen to me.” She placed her hands on his shoulders. “Look, I didn’t mean that. I’m tired, okay, both of us are.” She stepped in closer, “But, look Nico is traveling to you because he needs you-  _ you _ give him comfort and security.”

Will nodded, meeting her with his eyes. “I’ll do it.”

She grinned, pulling him into her arms. “Now, you get to go tell him.”

Like it was that easy. Will sighed, as Kayla walked back to the main room. He paced the hallway for a while, rehearsing potential conversations, but it was hard to predict what Nico would say.

Finally, with a quick prayer to the gods he pushed open the door to Nico’s room. He could feel his face already go hot, this was not going to end well.

Will made his way by Nico’s bed, awkwardly shifting his weight as he waited for Nico to look.

“Uh..hello?”

Will cleared his throat, might as well get to the point. “So, you said you’ve only traveled to the Apollo Cabin and then yesterday you traveled to uhh..me right?”

He frowned, “Right.”

“Well, I was doing all this research, and nothing was really taking me anywhere. But, then Kayla..uh said something.” Will hesitantly looked up. “She said that you might be trying to seek comfort.”

Nico didn’t say anything, he just kind of froze and nodded his head.

“So maybe that’s you’re traveling to a healer.” Will wiped his sweaty palms on his scrubs and shakily sat down in his chair. “Hear me out okay? What if we had a sleepover tonight and I stayed at the Hades Cabin, so that you’d be I dunno closer to a healer?”

“I don’t need a pity sleepover party, Solace,” Nico said, his eyes sliding up to look at Will.

Will huffed, “Oh shush, it’ll be fun! I’ll bring over some video games and comics, and oh maybe some snacks?” He smiled, he’d definitely be going all out for Nico. He had a stash of snacks from when he went back home- and oh he was definitely going to be bribing a few Hermes’ kids

“Fine. But who says the healer had to be you, huh?” 

_ Was he really playing this card?  _ Fine _. _ Will rolled his eyes, “Cause were friends, duh? Also you shadow traveled to me yesterday?”

“Okay, but what about Chiron?” he asked. 

Kayla was right, they were both stubborn- equally so. Will smirked,“I didn’t know you were so big on rules recently?”   
  


“I’m not, it’s just-”

“Stop making excuses. I’ll ask him at lunch today, it’s for strictly medical purposes anyway.” Will smiled, winking at Nico before grabbing his clipboard. 

Tonight was definitely going to be interesting, he mused before closing Nico’s door behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi, i feel like this fic keeps getting longer, the more i write! i do plan on getting chapters more often, so we'll see how that goes.
> 
> thanks for reading & constructive criticism is welcome as always!
> 
> \- rey <3


	6. so if you will

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a solangelo slumber-party where they both try too hard and fall more in love.  
> ____
> 
> All his life, Will had been the boring one, the responsible one, “the killer of all things fun” as Kayla so kindly put it once. He just didn’t want to be lame next to Nico.

Will was excited for his sleepover with Nico. Well, excited was a bit of an understatement- he had admittedly gone a little bit overboard. It was all well deserved, he mused as he started to pack his bags. 

He managed to buy some soda and other snacks from a few Hermes kids- which was extremely convenient, but also infuriating as a doctor to see. No wonder those kids were always bouncing off the walls, quite literally.

Will huffed, as he stuffed a bag of chips into one of the tote-bags he was bringing. There were just a few more things he needed to assemble the  _ ultimate _ slumber party. 

He had bumped into Annabeth on his way back from the Hermes Cabin. Apparently news of their sleepover was spreading around camp, Will frowned. He hoped Nico wouldn’t mind too much.

Anyways, she told him that Nico was obsessed with horror movies. Will bit his cheek, it wasn’t surprisingly that a child of Hades would like horror and it was a staple to a slumber party - but he just didn’t know if he could get through an hour and a half of gore. He shivered, something about fake blood was worse than real blood.

_ But _ , if Nico wanted to watch a horror movie, he was going to get a horror movie. Will nodded determinedly, he was lucky enough to save his last few drachma. He figured it was enough to pay one of the Stolls to steal a classic thriller from the Big House. 

And well for candy, Will had that covered. He grinned, kneeling down to his bed. 

Every year his mother gave him a giant box of candy for his birthday, which he always snuck back to camp. It had started off as a bit of a joke before it grew into a tradition. He pulled his locked trunk from underneath and rolled the digits to line up. He clicked once, then twice and the lid lifted up. Will quickly checked over his shoulder- and spotted Austin sheepishly smiling at the entrance.

“Austin!” Will said, trying to shift his body to cover the trunk.

Austin scratched his head. “I- I already know about your stash.”

Will closed his mouth. He turned back around and opened his trunk. Sure enough, it was completely empty. 

“Sorry,” he said, sheepishly. “I’ll make it up to you!”

“AUSTIN!”

“I’ll- I’ll make it up to you! I swear!”

Will rolled his eyes, “How?”

“Uhh, I’ll teach you how to play Myth-o-Magic?”

Will paused, chewing his lip. “Nico used to be obsessed with it.”

Austin grinned, “Deal?”

“Okay,” he nodded. “But that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook.”

___________

Turns out Myth-o-Magic was more complicated than it seemed. It felt like each round they played, there was a new rule or strategy to play by. Will sighed, he wasn’t good at all, even calling him mediocre would be a blatant lie. 

He huffed, knowing the rules was good enough for now. He thanked Austin before running off to another shift at the infirmary. 

Apparently two Athena campers needed stitches. 

“I’m here,” he called as he signed himself in.

“Took you long enough,” Kayla said.

“Don’t give me that attitude,” he retorted, slipping his gloves on.

“Malcom and the new kid are in there,” she pointed to the curtain-drawn beds.

“Malcom?” he asked, taken aback. Malcolm was usually the quiet, thought-out one of all the Athena campers; even Annabeth would be considered hot-headed beside him.

“I’m just as surprised as you are,” she sighed, walking back to the front desk.

Will shrugged as he walked to the left corner. He pushed open the curtain,“hey guys, are you ready?”

Malcolm sat on the bed opposite the other camper, swinging his legs. There was a long gash across his forehead, not too deep though. The new camper had a nearly identical one- except it was vertical and down her cheek. 

Malcolm hummed back, uncommittedly.

“I’m Will Solace, infirmary-head” he said, sticking out his hand to the new camper. She frowned back, her steely gray eyes boring into him. She looked a lot like Annabeth.

“O-okay, who wants to go first?” Will tried. Two sets of gray eyes stared back at him, silently. Today was simply too long, Will thought.

Stitches weren’t all that bad though; Will had been doing them for so long that he could do it with his eyes closed. He finished up Malcom and the still unnamed camper and patched them up. He knew better than to ask them what happened.

He was about to leave when Malcolm called him back. “Hey, you’re having a sleepover with Nico, right?”

Will nodded, unsure suddenly.

“He likes gummy bears,” Malcolm said. 

Will smiled, “Thanks.” He added gummy bears to his mental-list of last minute things to get. The vending machine in the infirmary definitely had some. 

___________

His shift ran through dinner which he wouldn’t get to see Nico. So, his dinner was going to be spent sulking over a plate of spaghetti and daydreaming about a certain boy. It could’ve been worse, he thought, twirling his fork.

“Hi, Will,” someone said.

Will froze, darting his head up to see... no-one? 

“Up here!” the voice called, cheerfully

Will turned to the right, to see-oh? “Hazel?”

She smiled at him, her dark curls falling to the side. She was at the Pluto Cabin and Camp Jupiter with Frank squished beside her. “Hello!” she waved.

“Uh.. Hi Hazel. Frank.”

“I heard about my brother and you, and I wanted to talk.”

Will felt his face go hot. “There isn’t anything going on! Yet. I mean- not that there should be- but he’s a friend. A really good one.” Will coughed, this was pathetic. “It's just a sleepover,” he mumbled, looking away.

Hazel only grinned wider. “I just wanted to tell you that we’ve been on a Disney binge! The rest of the seven have been trying to get us caught up.”

Frank nodded, “We’ve watched basically all the classics, plus Moana and Frozen.” Hazel leaned into him and Frank unconsciously wrapped an arm around her. They were cute together.

“I guess we should probably watch a Disney movie tonight,” Will hummed.

“We haven’t watched Tangled, yet,” Frank supplied helpfully.

“He hasn’t watched Tangled?!” 

“Hey, neither have I.” Hazel raised her eyebrows, “But, I have to admit- the brunette on the movie poster is very attractive.”

“Flynn Rider?” Will cocked his head. He supposed Hazel had a thing for brunettes, then again so did he.

“ _ That’s _ his name?” Hazel fanned herself.

Frank stared back at her, “He’s a fictional character.”

Will snorted, “Does it really matter though?”

Hazel laughed, “I like you!” She tucked her hair behind her ears, “Okay, we have to go! But do let me know how it goes with Nico!”   
Frank nodded, “Bye, Will.”

Will waved back before running a hand through the Iris Message. Lou Ellen has got to have a DVD of Tangled somewhere-maybe she’d lend it to him. 

He helped himself to another forkful of spaghetti, trying to think of what else Nico would want.

It was nearly 8:00 already, he had about a half-hour before he had to meet Nico. He hurried through the rest of his dinner, before signing off and stepping into the cool night.

Now he just had to meet with Lou Ellen, track down the Stolls, take a shower and get his things. He trudged through the dewey lawn, hugging his arms around himself as he walked when he came face-to-face with Piper. 

“Hi?”

“Hey, do you have a minute?” she asked..

“Sure,” he said. Piper would always be intimidating to him, but she had a soft look in her kaleidoscope eyes that was rare. Clearly, this was important

“Aphrodite Cabin, come on,” she said leading the way to Cabin 10. It was decked out with twinkle-lights and seemed to glow with a pink aura. 

Will shifted nervously in front of the door before Piper gently dragged him in. Every camper stared at him, he heard some not so silently scoff at his khakis.

“Don’t worry they don’t bite,” Piper said. “Well, most of them don’t,” she said pointedly looking at Mitchell. Will tried not to shiver.

She pulled him into the back and Will did his best not to trip over the pink throw pillows that seemed like they were everywhere. Seriously, why did anyone need copious amounts of throw pillows in a cabin? 

At the back of the Cabin was a massive closet, it seemed like there were miles and miles of clothes everywhere.

Piper noticed his stare, “It’s enchanted,” she said as a way of explaining everything.

“So… what’s up?” he asked.

Piper ran a hand through her hair, “A slumber-party staple, Mr. William, are onesies,” she smiled.

Will’s eyes widened, “Why didn’t I think of that?!”

___________

By the time he got back to his cabin and after meeting with Lou Ellen it was 8:20. Will hated being late, but he figured he could take a shower and then hunt down the Stolls. 

He pushed open the cabin door and parkoured around his half-siblings before making it to his bed. Surprising there was a bag carefully placed in the center.

Will sighed, this had to be another prank. He gingerly reached his hand into the bag, fully expecting something gross when he felt a DVD instead.

The cover said something his exhausted, dyslexic brain couldn’t understand and there was something bloody on the front. The horror movie from the Stolls. Will flipped it to the back, finding a stick note.

_ Will _ .

_ Tell Nico that we swear it wasn’t us. He still seems upset and it’s a bit terrifying. _

_ Thanks, _

_ You know who _

Will frowned, he wondered what was up with that. He shrugged, peeling off the note and slipping the DVD into his tote bag before grabbing his towel.

___________

The door to the Hades Cabin was open and a bar of light fell through. Will grinned, ducking his head through the doorway.

Nico laid on his newly-repositioned bed, arms under his head. He was smiling, his two dimples popping out and his eyes adorably crinkled. He sighed softly, a single curl falling into his face. 

Will cooed over the sight of Nico's dimpled smile. Nico just looked so soft and adorable, it was incredibly unfair.

Nico instantly dropped his face into his classic scowl, but there was still a glint of excitement in his eyes.

“Solace.” He propped himself up, “How long have you been here?”

“Shh, don’t stop smiling. You looked so cute!”

Nico rolled his eyes as he sat up. “Is that a onesie?” he asked.

Will grinned giddily. “Yup, yup, yup. Wait. Wait, guess what I am!” He made his way to the center of the cabin, closing the door behind him with his foot.

He slowly spun around, flapping his arm so Nico could see his wings.

“An eagle?” Nico asked.

Will frowned, where did he get  _ eagle _ from? “Noo. Oh, wait this might help,” he flipped his hood over his head, so Nico could see the squirrel ears.

“Uhh… a mouse?”

Will shook his head, honestly it was quite obvious. “Noo, I’m a flying squirrel!” he grinned, spinning back around- towards Nico.

“I can totally see it,” he said. “Why are you dressed as a squirrel though? Aren’t you supposed to do that in October?” 

It was cute to see Nico get used to everything, it made him staying here feel more real. More like a teenager. “Cause it’s a sleepover, duh. And don’t worry I have one for you too!”

“No. Not happening,” Nico said, stubbornly. He crossed his arms and Will just looked at him unimpressed. A minute of silent staring passing and Will shakes his head.

He grabbed his bags and pulled out Nico’s onesie. He and Piper spent quite a bit of time discussing options and this arguably was probably the most Nico-onesie ever.  
“Yes. Yes, happening. Don’t worry it’s not a flying squirrel. They were all out of those.”

“Wow, I'm devastated,” Nico deadpanned.

Will rolled his eyes, “Close your eyes!”

“Fine.” 

Will gently placed the black cat onesie in Nico’s arms. “Okay, you can look now”

Nico frowned, inspecting at the ball of fuzz. His eyes narrowed when he realized what it was. Will did his best not to snicker.   
  


“Do you liiike it?” 

“All things considered it could’ve been worse. I could’ve had to match with you.”

“Hey! We would have been the cutest,” Will blurted out.

Nico froze and Will could see the tips of his ears turn red. Will swallowed, pretending not to notice. “Well? Go put it on!” Will said ushering him to the door.

With a final element of sass, in classic Nico fashion, he trudged to the bathroom.

“Don’t touch anything!” he yelled. Will scoffed silently, how did Nico expect him not to snoop?

___________

Nico slumped back, red-faced and positively adorable in his onesie. Will struggled the urge not to smother him and nodded what he hoped was approvingly, instead.

Will figured they could start with Tangled and was in a battle with the T.V to get it to start playing. He frowned, he was on his own with this.

“How did you even get this?” Nico asked and Will could hear him rummaging through his bags. It took Nico about five minutes before he dug into the candy.

“Hermes Cabin, where else?” Will answered distracted with the new error message that popped up.

“I didn’t think you had it in you, Sunshine. I’m impressed.”

Will paused.  _ Sunshine?  _ He bit his lip, why did he like that so much? Will shook his head slightly before turning back around.

“I can have fun! Look I also got soda even if it’s ridiculously sugar and extremely toxic for your growing body,” he said.

Nico groaned, “Please don’t say  _ growing body _ ever again, as far as I’m concerned I am grown. Also, are you sure carbonated drinks aren’t too risque for you?” 

Will thought carefully: it was late at night but he figured brushing their teeth and avoiding ice would be good enough. “Well as long as they aren’t iced, I think that’ll be a bit too wild.”

He decided to ignore Nico’s little snort. Good dental care involved avoidance too. 

“Do you need help?”

“Nope! Nope it’s good,” Will said. Not that Nico would be much help- born in the 40s and all that. The sleeping beauty castle appeared and he smiled back at Nico.

“Now, I know you watched a few Disney movies, but there’s no harm in rewatching a few classics!”

Will figured he could tell Nico about the whole Hazel plan later. He quickly moved next to Nico as the title card played. He could feel Nico hesitantly sit back, their shoulders now firmly pressed against each other.

Will swallowed pointedly looking at the T.V.   
  


___________

It wasn’t all awkward though, a ⅓ way into the movie, chaos unfolded. Will was belting the chorus of “I’ve got a dream,” just to see Nico laugh. What Nico didn’t seem to know was that an Apollo kid practically couldn’t be tone-deaf and that Will’s mother was an actual professional singer- but if it meant making Nico laugh, Will could pretend to not know how to sing.

They were nearly at the end and Will did his best to blink away the tears, but he noticed Nico was definitely tear-eyed too. He coughed, deciding not to point it out.

Will yawned as he stretched out his legs.

“So...what’s next,” Nico asked, digging into another pack of gummy bears. Will definitely owed Malcom for that one.

“Well, since I picked Tangled I figured you should pick the next movie. And Percy told me you uh… liked horror, so I bribed the Stolls for a few CDs.” Will dragged over one of his tote bags. 

“Do you even like horror though?” he asked, holding out a gummy bear. Will bit his cheek, why was everything Nico did so damn adorable?

“Uhh..no?”

“Then we don’t have to watch it, idiot,” Nico flicked Will’s head. “Besides I have a better idea,” he said, standing up

Will blinked, rubbing the side of his temple. Nico returned with a deck of cards. Myth-o-Magic, he supposed he owed Austin something too.

“Do you want to play Myth-o-magic?” Nico asked with a soft smile.

“You used to be obsessed with it, huh?”

“How’d you know?” Nico asked as he sat back down.

Will held back the urge to scoff, like there wasn’t anything about Nico that Will didn’t know. “I have it somewhere in my vast Nico information vault.” 

“That sounds horrifying,” Nico said, scrunching his nose. “Here are the rules, okay?”

Will nodded, he forgot half the ones Austin taught him and clearly Nico was the expert.

___________

It felt like hours had gone by which Nico absolutely crushing him at Myth-o-Magic like Will expected he would. The only entertaining part of the whole ordeal was to hear Nico geek out over rules and power cards. 

Will yawned, his nose scrunching. They had to have played a million rounds already. “Whaddya wanna do now?”

“You look tired,” Nico said, gathering all the cards up. 

“Hmm,” he hummed.

“We can go to bed you know, we don’t have to stay up.”   
  


“Yeah, but it’s your first sleepover party, we  _ have  _ to stay up!” Will frowned, they couldn’t just give up. Slumber-parties meant staying up at least until the sun came out.

“I thought this was supposed to be for strictly medical purposes, Solace,” Nico quirked back.

Will rolled his eyes, Nico was playing his card. Nicely done. “I just don’t want you to have a sucky slumber-party,” he admitted, fiddling with his onesie. All his life, Will had been the boring one, the responsible one, “the killer of all things fun” as Kayla so kindly put it once. He just didn’t want to be lame next to Nico.

Nico fell silent, before he nudged Will with his foot. “I’m having a grand time and it would be grander if we just went to bed without you nodding off every two seconds.”

Will smiled, “What a little-sweetie you are!” he said, attempting to reach for Nico’s cheeks, but he swiftly ducked away. Somehow despite being horrendously awkward, Nico always said the right things.

“Alright, alright let’s go to bed,” Nico stretched his hand towards Will like it was the most natural thing ever. Will bit back a smile; he was really trying and it was really sweet.

“Don’t forget to brush your teeth!” Will said as they split up.

___________

After they got ready for bed they met in front of the T.V again. Will’s heart was nearly beating out of his chest as he shifted back and forth. “So.. how do you want to do this?” Will asked.

Nico’s head was down, so Will could just see the back of his neck and ears. “Take Hazel’s bed?” he asked, quietly.

“I don’t think that’s going to work,” Will said softly. “You’re traveling distances as small as a foot.”

The back of Nico’s neck turned bright red and he tugged at the sleeves of his cat onesie. He sighed. “Floor or my bed?”

Will stepped forward, well aware that his entire face was flaming hot. “Bed, duh.” And before he could chicken-out he jumped into the fluffy black sheets. 

He could hear Nico sigh as the bed creaked as he climbed on. Nico was turned away from him, practically glued to the night-stand. Will tried not to roll his eyes.

“I think you need to be closer,” Will whispered. “I don’t bite you know.”

“I’m close enough,” Nico mumbled back.

Will bit his lip, turning so that he was facing the back of Nico’s head. He could hear his blood rush in his ears. “Cuddles?” he whispered, finding Nico’s hand in the dark.

“Fuck off.”

Will grinned, if Nico was truly upset he would have just shadowtraveled out. Nico shifted back towards him, his face almost purple in the moonlight and rested his head against Will’s shoulder. “Good night, Nico.”

Will laid still-, cocooned in warmth and the presence of Nico di Angelo. Everything felt so unreal. He couldn’t believe he was actually in the Hades Cabin, cuddling the prettiest boy ever, and _ everything smelled like ashes and roses _ .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao remember when i said chapters more often. anyways, here is the sleepover chapter- probably the longest chapter i've ever written! 
> 
> originally i planned for chapter 7 being the last of this series, but since you've all stuck with me for so long and i'm not quite ready to say goodbye to this series... there might be a little treat at the end of all this! 
> 
> um.. upload schedule is still going to be messy cause high school is a bitch, but thanks for reading!! <3

**Author's Note:**

> so, i'm going to update this whenever (lol), but yea i hope you liked Will's perspective (it's a bit shorter).
> 
> also lmk what you think, constructive criticism is welcome! <3


End file.
